Five days into a two-week conditioning assignment with the Toronto Marlies farm club, Gustavsson left the game after the first period of Wednesday’s 9-2 win over the Connecticut Whale. Marlies’ head coach Dallas Eakin told reporters that Gustavsson’s heart rate had accelerated, and that he was removed from the game as a precaution.

The team hasn’t released further details about Gustavsson’s latest cardiac episode, and it’s not yet known whether the goalie — who had two heart surgeries last year — will need another operation.

Before the 2009 season, the Leafs signed Gustavsson to a one-year contract worth $900,000 and before the product of Sweden’s Elite League played an NHL game, he was touted as the Leafs’ goalie of the future. But the heart issues that have delayed Gustavsson’s development predate his first game as a Maple Leaf.

In September 2009, Gustavsson was carted away from the practice rink in an ambulance on the first day of training camp and hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat.

The then-23-year-old underwent a surgery called an ablation — major enough to reset the rhythm of his heart, minor enough to allow him to play — and recovered in time to open the season as the Leafs’ starting goaltender.

But during a December 2009 game in Montreal, Gustavsson’s heart rate raced again. He was taken to hospital where doctors again performed surgery, which sidelined him for two more weeks.

Gustavsson’s heartbeat remained under control for the remainder of his rookie season, in which he recorded 16 wins and a .904 save percentage in 42 games. Last April, he signed a two-year contract extension worth $1.35 million per season.

At the time, he assured reporters that his heart issues were no longer an immediate concern.

“I talked to the doctors a couple of days ago like the rest of the players and they said everything looks fine,” he told the Star in April. “They can’t predict what will happen in the future, but I feel healthy and I’m not worried going into the summer.”

— With files from The Canadian Press

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